The invention relates to controlling multimedia aspects of a computer.
A typical computer system has software applications that process and generate data used in multimedia aspects (e.g., sound or video) of the computer system. For example, as part of a speakerphone emulation, data received via a modem may be converted into sound via audio speakers, and data received via a microphone may be processed and transmitted via the modem over a telephone line. As another example, video data received via a telephone line or a CD-ROM may be displayed on a monitor.
For furnishing sound, a plug-in sound card or a board mounted chip typically furnishes an interface between sound data generated by software and the speakers. The sound circuit may have a digital signal processor used to sample an analog input furnished by a microphone. Because the sound data is represented in a digital format, the sound circuit typically has a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter used to convert the sound data into an analog representation furnished to the speakers. Software of the computer system can typically program the sound chip to set the magnitude of the analog representation and thus, the volume level of sound emanating from the speakers.